Gender Pay Gap Costs Women Workers Billions

Over their lifetimes, working women of all educational backgrounds lose more than $434,000 due to the ongoing gender gap in wages, a new report published last week by the Center for American Progress Action Fund revealed.

The study, 'Lifetime Losses: The Career Wage Gap,' defined the 'gender wage gap' as the difference between the median wages of all full-time working men and women. The gender gap adversely impacts women of all educational levels and in all comparable jobs with men. It causes the greatest financial losses, however, for older women with the most experience in the workforce.

According to the report, women with higher levels of education tend to lose more income over the course of their careers. Women with a college degree or higher lose more than $713,000 over the working life, according to the study, while women without high school diplomas lose about $270,000.